Friday, March 15, 2013

Response to:The Maricopa County
Legislative District 15 Republican Committss'sResolution In Opposition to
the Governor's Medicaid Plan

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, the Voters of Arizona
clearly expressed their will to reject implementation of the Affordable Care Act
(Obamacare) by amending the Arizona Constitution via Proposition 106 in 2010,
and thus preventing an individual mandate; and

TRUTH: It
was Republican Governor Fife Symington, who first proposed the idea of covering
adults in the mid-90s. Then Arizona voters approved the measure in 1996 and
again in 2000 via Proposition 204. The support from Arizona voters was
overwhelming. The Governor's plan simply honors the will of the voters. The
Governor's Medicaid plan has nothing to do with enforcing the individual
mandate. In fact, it was clear that Proposition 106 did not affect the AHCCCS
program whatsoever.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, the State of Arizona
cannot afford to be saddled with the costs of implementing this federal program
and the "Circuit Breaker" clause is insufficient to prevent an out of control
escalation of said costs; and

TRUTH: The Governor's plan
protects the State's General Fund and takes Prop. 204 costs off the State's
books by working collaboratively with the hospital industry to formulate an
assessment. The State is clearly able to terminate this proposal at any time, so
the "circuit breaker" also protects the State from any federal "bait and
switch."

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, the "assessment" on hospitals is
in reality just a hidden tax that will ultimately be passed on to hospital
patients in the form of higher costs and is a disingenuous attempt to subvert
the legislative process requiring tax increases receive super-majority approval
in the legislature; and

TRUTH: Under the Phoenix Access to
Care Ordinance, which the Governor has proposed adopting at a statewide level,
hospitals are forbidden from passing on the costs to consumers. No law,
however, protects consumers from hospitals passing on their costs of
uncompensated care. We – all of us – are paying for uncompensated care. We are
all covering the cost of care for people who do not have insurance but who still
get cancer or people who get in a motorcycle accident and end up needing care in
a trauma center. Recent studies put this at nearly $2,000 per family. The
assessment is similar to current programs, like the Managed Care Premium
assessment and the recently passed Nursing Home assessment. It is well within
the bounds of the Arizona Constitution and the precedent set by the legislature
to allow agencies to set their own assessments for the industries that they
regulate.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, no government entitlement program
has ever been scaled back, eliminated or held within its initial costs [sic]
projections, and the long term and evolving costs of the Obamacare Medicaid
Expansion will cause a severe financial hardship on Arizona’s budget, just as
surely as Obamacare will do the same to the country;
and

TRUTH: Not in Arizona – in 2011, when the state's
general fund was spread too thin, Governor Brewer led the effort to reduce the
AHCCCS budget by $2.5 billion, including eliminating the program that provided
coverage for people with catastrophic medical events, known as the spend-down
program. Further, the State froze enrollment for its KidsCare and childless
adult program. In total, these efforts reduced the rolls by about 180,000
people.

Although the goal was always to restore access to this
population to respect the will of the voters, when the state has faced difficult
fiscal times, the Governor and legislature have not been afraid to scale back
government entitlements. Further, Arizona already knows what it takes to provide
coverage to the Proposition 204 population; it has been studied by experts from
Harvard and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The cost
of this care is already well known to actuaries.

And finally, Governor
Brewer's plan calls for an automatic "circuit breaker." Under this provision,
the expansion population would automatically be repealed without
another vote of the legislature if the federal government's share falls below
80%.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court explicitly rules that
each State is free to reject implementation of the Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
and Insurance Exchanges, the two cornerstones of the Affordable Care Act,
without which Obamacare collapses as a practical and functioning program;
and

TRUTH: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
is the law of the land. Although Governor Brewer vehemently and courageously
opposed the passage of the legislation, and participated in the lawsuit before
the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to strike down the act, the Affordable Care
Act is here to stay. Twenty-six states, including Arizona have rejected the
Act’s offer to set up state exchanges; this will not stop the federal government
from setting up a federal exchange. Similarly, failure to accept the federal
government's offer to fund the restoration of Arizona's Medicaid program will
not have any meaningful impact on the success or failure of the overall
legislation. The Governor's plan is about Arizona. It is not
ObamaCare.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, the Federal government is
incapable of implementing these programs by 2014 or even 2016 without the local
organization, legwork, and the financial subsidies of the States; The fastest
and most efficient means to end Obamacare is simply for each State to refuse
their implementation and allow them to fail; and

TRUTH:
The fastest and most efficient means to end ObamaCare would have been for the
American electorate to vote for Mr. Romney, whom the Governor endorsed,
campaigned for and fully supported. Elections have consequences. Elected leaders
have a duty to govern and make tough choices. Her plan does right by Arizonans.
Resolutions like these come from those who have the luxury of living in their
ideological worlds without having to understand the real-life implications of
their theories.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, by holding AHCCCS as the
conservative model for Medicaid and an example to the other states, Governor
Brewer is advocating for a conservative expansion of socialism, a truly
contradictory concept; and

TRUTH: This is a time for
Republicans to rebuild and unite, not tear each other apart. Since when is it
socialist to provide a safety net for the elderly, the disabled, the poor? And
the AHCCCS system is truly a shining example of limited government
where care is managed by private health plans and provided by
private physicians and hospitals, the very same ones we all see for our
own care.

LD 15 says: WHEREAS, supporting a government takeover
of our health care system, even to secure large amounts of federal funds, does
NOT reflect the values of the Republican Party or the interests of the taxpayers
of Arizona; now therefore be it

TRUTH: Once again, the
Governor's plan is about Arizona and Arizona's system is one of limited
government. Limited government works. As the leader of the Republican Party, the
one whom Republican precinct committeemen have been elected to support, Governor
Brewer's plan is the embodiment of the Republican values of private sector
partnerships and limited government interference.

LD 15 says:
RESOLVED, that we, the Maricopa County Legislative District 15 Republican
Committee do (unanimously) affirm and declare our opposition to the Governor’s
plan to expand Medicaid in support of Obamacare; and, be it
further

RESOLVED, that we, the Maricopa County Legislative District 15
Republican Committee demand that the Legislators of the Arizona State House and
Senate stand with the people of Arizona in opposition to the Governor’s plan to
expand Medicaid in support of Obamacare by defeating any bill to such
ends.TRUTH: Opposing the Governor's proposal to restore
Arizona's innovative and nationally acclaimed AHCCCS program ignores the will of
the voters, the fiscal realities of our state and the escalating costs of
uncompensated care that threaten to drive up the costs of private health
insurance premiums, hurt Arizona businesses and make Arizona uncompetitive.
Preserving a strong and competitive economy and fostering the free-market ideals
that AHCCCS embraces are at the core of the Republican Party’s beliefs. So much
so, in fact, that the AHCCCS enabling legislation was passed by a Republican-led
legislature in 1981. Then, Republicans understood that their role as elected
officials was not to "hold the line" but to come up with pragmatic, responsible
solutions to the state’s healthcare crisis. Now, our elected officials are faced
with the same choice. Governor Brewer has proven she understands that her
primary responsibility is to improve the lives of the citizens of Arizona; it is
unfortunate that the Pima County GOP does not hold itself to the same standard.
The Governor's plan supports Arizona. It is not in support of ObamaCare.

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